A Replica of Michelangelo's Pieta

Please accept our invitation to view this beautiful sculpture between the hours of 9AM and 4PM Tuesday through Friday and on Sunday mornings 8 to Noon. Please call 801-486-5473 one week in advance to schedule a docent presentation or to bring groups.

Michelangelo Buonarroti1475-1564Michelangelo was a sculptor, painter, poet and architect. His works are on display throughout the world. He is probably best known for his mural on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo was reserved and introspective, denying himself worldly pleasures, stating in order to reproduce even a partial likeness of Our Lord is not enough to be a great painter; one must also lead an exemplary life and be as saintly as possible, so that the understanding may be directed by the Holy Ghost.

The PietaAt the age of 23, Michelangelo himself went to the quarries at Carrara, Italy to find pure veins of the best marble for the Pieta. He completed the work in one year. Although the Pieta seems to be in realistic proportions, notice that Mary is larger than Christ. She would be seven feet tall if standing. The height and mass of Mary's garments transform what would be an awkward pose into a graceful pyramid composition. After its completion, Michelangelo overheard a patron crediting his work to another artist. He returned to the Pieta that night and carved "Michelangelo Buonarroti of Florence made this", in Latin, into Mary's sash.

The ReplicaThis replica was created in Pietrasanta, Italy, by Palla, one of the foremost sculptors in that country. It is one of two known replicas of Michelangelo's masterpiece in the United States. The original is located in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican in Rome. The 6400 pound marble sculpture was shipped directly from Italy to Christ United Methodist Church in Salt Lake City, Utah. The replica is made from Carrara marble, the same material used in the original. The process of creating the replica began with many photographs and measurements of the original; the form of the replica was fashioned by drilling into the marble to desired depths and removing the excess stone. The more exact form was chiseled and the finished work polished to a high shine to match the original.

This replica of the Pieta was donated in 1992 by Cyd, Matt and Jan Denlinger.